“Let food be thy medicine”: The rhetoric of food-based cancer cures in online spaces

Abstract

When the emotional weight of a cancer diagnosis coalesces with the limitations of mainstream oncology, cancer patients and their families may turn to online spaces, looking for answers and glimmers of hope. Through blogs and online columns, alternative medicine proponents entice this audience away from conventional treatments with the possibility of a cure that is hiding in plain sight: on their plates. Understanding the landscape of online information related to food-based alternative cancer cures can equip clinicians and health communicators with the background to understand dissenting voices and the persuasive techniques that may be compelling to them. This paper presents the results of a qualitative rhetorical thematic analysis of the writings of online food-as-(cancer)-medicine evangelists, revealing promises of empowerment, a natural restoration of order, and control over bodily health, all through the familiar medium of food.